According to N'feide Toï, engineer in animal, fishery production, environmental manager, most of those who engage in fish farming have economic means, but they do not necessarily master the technicality of the work they do.

"Most of the promoters we meet think that it is enough to know how to feed the fish to be qualified as a fish farmer, whereas before bringing the fish, we have to create favorable conditions for it, to have the infrastructures of reception. For example, make sure the ponds are easily drainable, there is also the density of seeding that must be taken into account," recalls N'feide, also a researcher at the fisheries research station of ITRA in Agbodrafo (Togo).

"To be assisted by specialists who are also very rare in the country is also a problem," he noted. To overcome the concerns of promoters and provide a boost to the sector, the State, through the Togolese Institute for Agronomic Research (ITRA) has set up

This fisheries research station

Compared to the problem of feed that usually comes from outside and takes 60 to 70% of the cost of production, the station is working on it.

"We are thinking about how to value agro-industrial by-products so that they can be incorporated into food manufacturing to reduce the cost of producing fish," said Toï.

Fisheries research station

Specialized in larval rearing and the selection of high-performance parents, the station is currently feeding ten promoters throughout the country.

"People come from the regions of Kara, Plateaux or Maritime to take 10g fry at home and already at four or five months, they can sell fish from 300 to 350g", he testified.

As far as researches are concerned, works are under way to determine the productivity rate of clarias gariepinus and tilapias oreochromis, including Nile tilapia (black) and red tilapia (resulting from a crossover series , imported from Thailand in 2016).

"For the moment, we are at the level of the descendants of the first parents we have acquired. Once we finish with this second generation, we will be able to clearly pronounce on their potentialities in our current conditions," he promised.

The station has one laboratory, 13 bins of 8m by 4m each and hosts students from the High School of Agronomy (ESA) and INFA Tove. Its vision is to increase the number of aquaculture specialists in the country to help promoters meet the growing demand.